Riya Varghese, 11/6/2020, PD8, Day C

Riya Varghese
11/12/2020
Period 8
Modern Mythology 2021

Goal Setting & Growth
At this current point in time, what specific goal(s) do you have for yourself? Why?

    At this current point in time, I feel like I have a multitude of goals. A few of these goals include connecting more in depth with my culture and choosing a college that is just right for me. The latter is apparently very important and sends you on a path of life that you can't really take back. I've looked at so many colleges and right when I finally had come up with a list, my brother checked over it and recommended a whole new set of colleges to look at. Although I don't mind looking through all of these colleges and I actually gained a few new options, I think I can speak for everyone else when I say that college essay writing is difficult and often a drag. I'm not a really good writer in the first place, so when I have to write more than 20 essays in the span of a month, I lack the motivation to start and even when I do have the motivation to start, I have no clue where to start. A lot of these essays require me to be creative and stand out from the rest.
    In the search of trying to find things that separate myself from the rest, I started looking at my hobbies, nuances, and culture. When I look at hobbies, all my friends would name Harry Potter from the get go. When I think of nuances, my peers name off my extrovertive and flexible nature with them. Although these could very well branch out into an essay, they're not really things that are special to me. Finally we have culture which I have been working on getting in tune with for a few years now. Previously, I went to a predominantly nonethnic school and so it didn't take very long for me to realize I was different from the rest. To fit in, I sacrificed my culture and distanced myself away from it. I chose to not learn how to read and write in my culture, wear my cultural outfits often and speak in English to my parents in public. After reaching high school, meeting new friends and participating in multicultural, I had a sense of regret and started incorporating my culture.


How do you demonstrate resilience towards achieving this goal? (or these goals?)

    I feel like what began my journey into becoming a better culturally in tune person was beginning my own Spotify playlist composed of a bunch of Hindi, Malayalam, and Tamil music which are all languages in India. Malayalam is my parent’s mother tongue and I have a strong connection with this language. Although I can only speak Malayalam, I really enjoy the other languages that surround my culture. Seeing the happiness on my mom's face when a song she knew played on the car from my playlist, and when we sang along to the lyrics, I knew I had made the right decision.
    In 2019, I picked up the occasion to turn into a Co-President and make a club advancing intercultural understanding. We named it a cuisine club and directed gatherings in which club individuals could bring different foods every month. To launch, I thought where better to begin then my own way of life. I named the subject of the month Desi December. I made some ladoos with my mother and sent some simpler plans to different individuals so they could take a stab at making different pastries. At the point when I saw my companions' efforts to make Indian food during our club meet, I had at long last acknowledged how far I had come and was pleased with my way of life. Although I do acknowledge how far I've come, I am far away from achieving my goal and I think it will be complete when I learn how to fully read and write in Malayalam instead of just knowing how to write my name.
    You may wonder how this connects to my goal of college but this process is exactly what I decided to write on for my personal statement. I believe this is my most unique feature and really shows my character development and personality the best. It showed the growth I've made throughout my life and my future resilience towards my goals.



How does the world around you affect your perception of this goal? (or these goals?)

I feel like the world currently being remote is like a double edged sword. Although many students complain about the workload, I believe compared to my earlier years, I am more relaxed and I have a lighter work schedule. Instead of my hour commute to and from school, 8am-3pm school schedule, and my after school activities, I have no commute, 3 classes a day and only hw from 3 of my classes each day. However, I am sad that I can't restart the cuisine club and demonstrate my vision to see my goals through. Being remote additionally has caused many cancelations for sats, acts, and other subject tests which remove a key unique trait for me in college. As much as these are downers on my senior year, I choose to look at the bright side, I have gotten further in touch with my culture by buying a ring with my name in Malayalam, so I never forget my roots; I also recently got to take my sat and hang out with my friends safely. Overall, although there were many blessings and curses this year, I have had time to focus on myself and what about myself is unique.